Dennis
Chamberlain

  

   

 

 


 Native Southern Californian and grew up in what was an “idyllic little community” called Bonita.  Received my B.A. degree in sculpture in
the late 70's and my M.F.A. degree in Art, (metalsmithing),  in the
mid 90's, both from San Diego State University.  It is there I discovered my passion for working with metal while studying with Helen Shirk and Arline Fisch.

 After graduate school I migrated from California to Colorado to ski
and teach art.  While there, I was fortunate to teach at Metropolitan State College of Denver where I was head of the foundations program and, for a couple of years, the sculpture program.  I left teaching and Denver and headed for Maui, Hawaii where I live “upcountry” in another “idyllic little community” called Kula.   My focus now is on making art, not teaching art, so I get to spend a lot more time in my studio creating but it is never enough.

 Being a sculptor, I like working with a variety of materials but glass and metal are at the top of the list.  While in graduate school I did
quite a bit of enameling;  the art of fusing powdered glass to metal. 
As part of a technical investigation I tried to fuse a piece of window glass to a sheet of copper.  It didn't work, but it led to a lot of ideas
that necessitated learning how to fuse glass in a kiln.  Part of that exploration was the chance to study with Boyce Lundstrom at Camp Colton in Oregon.  That experience is directly responsible for my 25 year addiction to glass. 

 Throughout my artistic journey I have had the privilege to study
and work with some incredible artists and teachers.  To all of you I
can not say thank you enough.  The ride has been amazing!

 My work has been exhibited internationally and throughout the United States.